Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1842
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to formally oppose three proposals before the Alaska Board of Fisheries that would impose broad restrictions on Alaska’s private nonprofit salmon hatchery system — measures that Assembly Member Bob Martin, who brought the resolution forward, called the latest iteration of proposals that fisheries stakeholders across the region have consistently fought off. Resolution 2026-06 directs opposition to Board of Fisheries Proposals 170, 171 and 172, which are scheduled for consideration at the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly directed Borough staff on March 2 to start rewriting part of its zoning code to be implemented beyond municipal limits. The move follows months of work and deliberation over potentially updating Petersburg’s zoning code as the Borough navigates emerging concerns about constructing new communications towers in the community. Zoning determines how property can and cannot be used. Different types of zoning allow for different uses, and some require landowners to get permission from the municipality for certain p... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to extend the borough’s municipal solid waste transportation and disposal contract with Republic Services for one more year, buying time while a regional study examines longer-term alternatives for Southeast Alaska communities. Petersburg’s garbage is baled at the local baler facility and shipped via container to the Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Washington state, with Republic Services handling transportation and disposal. The contract extension runs from September 1, 2026 through the e...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly authorized an agreement with Axon Enterprise Inc., earlier this month, which provides the equipment and services that Petersburg’s Police Department uses. Under the agreement, the Borough would pay a $378,897.58 quote gradually over the next decade. Police Chief Jim Kerr said Monday that they typically do shorter contracts with the company. But this extended version that AXON offered includes some perks, especially for routine equipment replacement. “If they have a new technology that comes out, since we hav...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to extend the Petersburg Economic Development Council’s lease on the community cold storage facility for another five years, while also removing language from the lease that had prohibited seafood processing at the site. The lease extension runs through January 31, 2031, and maintains the $1-per-year rental rate that the assembly has held steady since the original agreement between PEDC and what was then the city of Petersburg was signed in February 2006. At each five-year interval s...
School funding has long been a balancing act, but now Petersburg stakeholders have been invited to weigh in on the Petersburg City School District budget by using the Balancing Act budget simulation tool. At the annual joint work session between the borough assembly and the school district, Shannon Baird, Director of Finance for PCSD, gave a walkthrough of the school budget situation for fiscal year 2027 and how the public can learn more about it and provide their suggestions through the balancing act tool. Balancing Act is an interactive...
Petersburg’s fire and emergency services department is heading into this spring’s borough budget planning cycle with several additional funding needs: a replacement of breathing equipment used by every firefighter entering a burning building, a forced relocation of the department’s training tower, and a push to update emergency plans that have gone largely untouched for more than a decade. Fire and EMS Director Aaron Hankins laid out the challenges at last month’s Public Safety Advisory Board meeting, where he was joined by a contrac...
Wrangell’s borough assembly on Feb. 24 unanimously approved a three-year lease with JAG Marine Group, giving the company time to decide if it will proceed with development of a shipyard at the 6-Mile Mill property. The shipyard would be the foundational component of a larger redevelopment plan for the former mill property, which also includes a new barge ramp and freight yard and a privately operated small data center. Wrangell Borough Manager Mason Villarma told the assembly that the short-term lease is a strategic necessity to ensure the p...
Rules for thee, but not for me To the Editor: Following the recent Assembly work session, I remain deeply disturbed by the suggestion that the Assembly should interrupt a strictly private land transaction simply because neighboring property owners disagree with its intended use. This appears to be a classic example of “rules for thee, but not for me,” as current owners who enjoyed the freedom to develop their own land are now attempting to bar others from that same privilege. I am further concerned that the Borough is suggesting and pus...
Boat owners in Wrangell now have some new rules to follow if they plan on keeping inactive vessels tied up in any of the harbors. At the Feb. 10 borough assembly meeting, members unanimously passed a new law designed to crack down on inactive boats taking up moorage space in the harbors. The provisions, which went into effect immediately, come after years of talks between Harbormaster Steve Miller, the port commission and borough leaders. No one from the public offered any comments about the ord...
American Cruise Line's long-discussed cruise ship dock project in Petersburg took another step forward last week when the borough assembly approved the first reading of an ordinance rezoning a 22,500-square-foot parcel at the end of Dock Street to accommodate ACL's proposed facility. The ordinance, which must pass two additional readings before final adoption, changes the parcel from un-zoned to Industrial with Marine Industrial Overlay. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended the...
WRANGELL - With just four weeks left before the deadline, Wrangell borough is pressing ahead to complete its application for a $50 million federal grant to help pay for several projects to boost the town's economic future. "We all know we've been economically depressed" since the timber industry collapsed more than a generation ago, Kate Thomas, the borough's economic development director, told the assembly at a work session on Jan. 27. The federal grant, through the Economic Development...
On January 9, heavy snow melt and rain saturated outdoor electrical panels at the Petersburg Aquatic Center, causing a failure of the main electrical breaker. Borough staff and local contractors quickly responded and restored electricity within three days, averting what could have been a costly, extended closure. "It was [around 4:14 p.m.] on Friday, and Julie texted me that the power on just the Aquatic Center had gone out," Parks and Recreation Director Stephanie Payne said. Payne immediately...
Petersburg utility customers will see a small surcharge on their January bills to cover the cost of running diesel generators during December’s extreme cold snap, following a 6-1 vote by the Borough Assembly at its Jan. 20 meeting. The diesel generation adjustment charge of 0.32 cents per kilowatt will apply to all electricity used in December and is expected to recover about $24,000 in unbudgeted expenses for fuel, lubricating oil and overtime, according to Utility Director Karl Hagerman. “The extreme cold temperatures experienced in Dec...
An ordinance introduced at Tuesday’s Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting proposes a 10 percent increase in harbor moorage and use fees. Petersburg Harbormaster Glo Wollen told the assembly the increase is needed to keep harbor revenues in line with rising expenses. Wollen said the harbor department has absorbed cost increases for four years since the last fee adjustment in April 2022. Rising utility rates, material costs and employee compensation are driving the need for additional revenue, she said. The largest expense in the harbor budget i...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted Tuesday to schedule two work sessions about the Tidal Network communication towers. The assembly approved a January 28, 6 p.m. work session where community members can voice concerns to the assembly about communication towers, in addition to the Monday, February 2 evening work session where Tidal Network representatives will be present and available to answer questions. Both meetings will be held in the Assembly Chambers. These meetings are in addition to a virtual community outreach event on January 27 at...
WRANGELL - The borough has officially partnered with a growing cruise line to bring a new dock to the community. The borough assembly voted unanimously on Jan. 7 to approve a 40-year tidelands lease for American Cruise Lines (ACL), which will build the dock. The decision followed months of negotiations and a public work session. The lease allows the company to build and operate a floating dock on the downtown waterfront. Borough Manager Mason Villarma described the deal as a "custom fit" for...
Special Meeting January 23rd: Planning Commission Drafting Zoning Code re: Towers To the Editor: We the Planning Commission are drafting a zoning code update to propose to the Borough Assembly to regulate communication towers locally. Our current code was written before cell phones and so does not contemplate tower locations. We are hoping to remedy this. Drafting this code is difficult and complicated because of binding FCC regulations — if we draft conflicting or illegal code, it can and will be struck down by the courts and then we'll be b...
Wrangell’s economic development board, which advises the assembly, has raised several questions about a possible borough land lease for a California-based company to build and operate a small-scale data center. The board voted 5-0 on Jan. 5 to recommend the assembly move forward with the lease for one or two acres at the former 6-Mile Mill property, but not until board members added several issues that they believe the assembly needs to consider. Those include any water discharge from the data center, the potential for noise and light p...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly has approved having temporary sales tax exemption cards available for seniors with pending eligibility. Petersburg voters passed a proposition this fall that limits the town’s senior sales tax exemption to only seniors who qualify as low-income. That eligibility is determined by the state’s income-based Senior Benefits Payment Program. As the Borough’s qualification change goes into effect in January, seniors applying for an exemption card need to show the Petersburg Borough’s finance office proof of eligibi... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved prioritized lists of capital projects for state and federal funding requests at its Jan. 5 meeting. The priority list is topped by two projects that have been selected for Congressionally Directed Spending but have not yet survived the congressional appropriations gauntlet – $2 million for an overhaul of the Banana Point boat launch facilities and $8 million toward wastewater treatment plant improvements. The Banana Point project — which has been supported in appropriation bills by U.S. Sen...
January 2025 The Petersburg Borough Assembly agreed to transfer seven parcels of borough-owned land in the Airport Addition Subdivision to Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority (THRHA) in exchange for the developing road and utilities for 11 residential lots. The snowpack at the Raven's Ridge snow survey site at 1,650 ft elevation measured zero inches. One of only two years on record without snowpack in January. Rock-N-Road Construction was awarded the contract for the borough's Pump Station...
Wrangell borough assembly took a step toward attracting private investment in building and operating a shipyard at the 6-Mile mill property, which the borough purchased for $2.5 million more than three years ago. During its Dec. 16 meeting, the assembly voted to approve a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Seattle-based JAG Marine Group. The agreement sets the stage for a long-term public-private partnership at the 6-Mile property, which Wrangell officials want to develop as a deepwater port. If JAG, which runs shipyards in Ketchikan and...
While the 23-year-old, 360-foot-long American Empress cruise ship is being stripped of its superstructure for conversion into a deck barge, the borough is looking at buying four diesel generators to use as a backup power source for industrial development plans at the former 6-Mile mill site. The dismantling and conversion work started last month at the Tideline Construction operation at 6-Mile, where the company runs a scrap metal recycling business and is taking apart the Empress for the ship’s owner, American Cruise Lines. The four C...
People who have been shoveling snow in central Southeast Alaska might feel a bit like Sisyphus, rolling his boulder uphill. But the heavy snowfall that buried many panhandle communities this past week is no myth. Over 40 inches of snow has fallen on Petersburg since Monday, Dec. 8. Edward Liske, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau, said that's already more than the town got all of last winter. Sixteen inches of snow fell in Petersburg on Sunday, Dec. 14, breaking the... Full story
